13 and 14 Months

Where have I been?!  The only excuse I have is that I love summer and being outside with my kids so we play nonstop when I'm home.  And with the sun going to bed later, Harper is going to bed later and that leaves little free time for mama without someone else attempting to type on the computer with me ;)

Emma Kate has changed so much since turning 1!  She has finally gotten brave enough to walk all over the place on her own.  After taking those first few steps after she turned one she basically refused to walk anywhere without my index finger in her right hand.  She was so particular, if I offered my thumb to her left hand she would do her best to switch her hands and my fingers so that she had just the right one to support her ;)  She would immediately plop down and cry if we let go, often laying down completely flat in a very dramatic fashion.  It was actually on July 4th, just shy of 14 months, that she decided she didn't need us anymore and took off on her own.  I think she was finally tired of just watching Claire and Harper run around and wanted to chase after them while we were picnicking :)

She understands basically everything we say which is such a cool thing because even though she can't communicate everything verbally she definitely lets us know her opinion.  She will point and grunt for things and all you have to do is pick it up and ask if that's what she wants and she will either shake her head very aggressively no or yes haha :)  She does have quite a few more words now - of course mama, dada, harper, papa, ball, balloon, water, milk, bite, please (da), hat.  We have a second little animal lover on our hands and she loves to demonstrate her animal noises, of course a horse being her favorite.  One of our neighbors has a horse weather vane on top of their house and the moment we step out of our front door she starts yelling neigh neigh and pointing.

We have spent many, many afternoons at the pool and she loves it.  She is fearless and will do everything in her power to drown herself so you basically have to have a hand on her at all times.  The baby pool is great and is zero entry with some little fountains at the shallow side... but of course she just wants to take off to the 2 foot side where Harper plays and attempt to faceplant.  She enjoys drinking the pool water at her leisure but does not so much like getting splashed if not on her own terms ;)

Something else she has also loved this summer is playing in the garden with Andy.  Between her and Harper they eat at least half of the cherry tomatoes before we are even able to get them into the house but they love them.  She just likes to sit in the dirt and play while chowing down making the most gigantic mess with tomato seeds everywhere.

She is still Mama's girl to the max and does not usually venture far away from me.  She will get brave and wonder off for a minute but basically turns right around once she's about 10 feet away ;)  She does love hanging out with Dad and will be content with him but that's basically the extent of her friendliness.  She's happy to give kisses, hugs, hi fives or waves to others if she's being held by one of us but lord help the person who tries to pick her up. ha.  She acts like she's been kidnapped every time!

She continues to be a pretty good eater but has definitely gotten a little pickier.  Andy says she is self-dieting though her little thighs do not demonstrate that ;)  She's wearing 12M stuff but is just barely squeezing in a lot of them.  I'm trying to hold out on buying more 12M summer clothes but I might have to break down in a couple weeks!

Still only has 4 teeth, two on top and two on bottom though has been drooling up a storm lately so maybe more are coming?  We have experienced a new phenomenon with biting though it has gotten a bit better over the last few weeks.  Whenever she would get really frustrated about something she would just lean over and bite you, the chair, etc and when we tell her no, she would look even more frustrated and bite her own hand :(  Or sometimes she would just be playing around and giving kisses then all the sudden try to take a chunk out of your leg! ha.  I'm hoping this continues to improve because she starts mother's day out very soon and I'm not looking forward to her getting expelled!

Her best buddy is Harper and she lets us know how much she misses Harper when she's away.  Our sweet nanny took Harper out for her bday one night and Emma Kate just walked around saying 'harper harper and looking for her everywhere'.  I'm sure they will go through times when they can't stand each other but I do hope that eventually they will be the best of friends!

Lots of trouble uploading pics so hopefully they are visible! :)